Mumbai: Gold imports are likely to reach 1,000 tonne due to growing investment demand, while prices might touch USD 2,000 by March 2012 driven by global economic crisis, a senior SocotiaMocatta official on Thursday said.

"Investor demand has compensated the decline in the jewellery consumption. The rising gold prices, which has boosted the investors appetite, may result in close to 1,000 tonne imports of the yellow metal," Rajan Venkatesh, managing director, India bullion, SocotiaMocatta, part of the Bank of Nova Scotia, told reporters on the sidelines of FICCI 'Gems and Jewellery Conference' here.

The current US and the Euro zone crisis, he said, will keep the gold prices bullish and it is likely to reach USD 2,000 an ounce in another 3-4 months, he said.

"People are losing faith in cash, as load of the US currency can be printed," he said.

The gold prices in the country on Thursday ruled at Rs 28,500 per 10 grams and in global markets it was at USD 1695.90 an ounce.

Talking about silver, he said, the imports will be slightly lower than last year's 3,030 tonnes due to the rise in prices.

"Silver business is not that significant (by volume)... couple of months ago it was very good when prices had tapered off," he said.

The demand will improve if the silver prices come down to Rs 40,000-45,000 a kg, he said.

Silver prices on Thursday stood at Rs 56,250 per kg and in the global markets it was at USD 31.88 an ounce.

Scotia, which has 19 warehouses in India, is also looking to expand in the country, he added.